Dare to Be Different by Nicole O'Dell

you’ll always only have people around you until they are tired of just following your orders and taking your bullying.”
    Kelly stared at her with her mouth open. No one had ever spoken up to her that way. Sam spoke up. “Hold on, Lindsay, I take offense to that. Are you saying that I am just a follower and can’t make up my own mind?”
    “Well, think about it, Sam. That whole night,all of the dares—they were Kelly’s idea. When I refused, it was Kelly who demanded that I be cut out. You and Macy didn’t want to, but you went right along with Kelly. Macy at least had the guts to come to me and apologize.”
    Kelly glared at Macy when she heard that.
    “See?” Lindsay whispered emphatically. “It makes you crazy mad, Kelly, to think that Macy came and apologized to me, that she would want to be my friend even though you said she couldn’t.”
    Macy tentatively opened her mouth. “You know what? I agree with Lindsay completely. I don’t want to be a follower. I want to be my own person. My heart tells me that Lindsay is one of my best friends, and I’m not willing to turn my back on her just to follow the orders of another one of my best friends. I think that you need to do some soul-searching, Kelly, and decide what you want out of your friendships and if you’re willing and able to respect us as people and appreciate our differences rather than try to erase them.”
    Sam had been quiet for a while, but it seemed like some of the things she was hearing had gotten to her. She quietly said, “I’m sorry,Lindsay; you’re totally right. I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. Can you forgive me?”
    “Of course I can, and I do. It’s over and done.”
    “Well, if you three are finished, we have some work to do.” Kelly was having no part of the apologies and wanted to change the subject.
    Lindsay showed them what she had done to their pillow while they were out of school. There wasn’t a whole lot of work that remained, so Kelly, Sam, and Macy set about to complete the pillow while Lindsay worked on finalizing the cost and material comparison report. The four girls finished their work at about the same time, and they sat back to survey the results.
    All four of them laughed when they stepped back to really look at their finished pillow. It looked just like Mrs. Portney. To prove it, Sam took the pillow up to the circulation desk and asked the librarian, Mrs. Woods, to look at the pillow and see if it reminded her of anyone.
    Mrs. Woods looked up from the book she was reading and lowered her glasses so she could peer over the top of them at the pillow in Sam’s hands. Immediately she started to laugh. “Well,I’ll be. It’s a Portney Pillow.” She laughed until she had to wipe the tears from her eyes. After she composed herself, she said, “You girls have done a great job on that pillow. It looks just like her down to the littlest details. Great job.”
    Confidently the four girls headed back to class to get everything put away before the bell rang. Their Portney Pillow was carefully wrapped in plastic and stowed in their bin, awaiting the day they could reveal it. They gathered their things and readied themselves to head off to their next class. Lindsay, trying not to be too intrusive, moved to leave immediately so that the others could walk together.
    Kelly reached out and grabbed her backpack and softly tugged her back. “Linds, just give me some time to figure things out. I heard everything that you said, and I’m not a completely coldhearted person. I just need some time. But you don’t need to leave. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just have to figure out what I did wrong.” With that, Kelly left alone, leaving Sam, Macy, and Lindsay to stare after her, dumbfounded.
    “Wow, I guess miracles can happen,” Macy said.
    “Pray, girls. Just pray,” Lindsay encouraged them.

    As Lindsay woke up Friday morning, she thought she heard the phone ringing, but it was hazy. A few moments later,